Controller for elevator-cars



B. WEXLER.

CONTROLLER FOR ELEVATOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1919.

1,357,014. Patentedbct. 26,1920.

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CONTROLLER FOR ELEVATOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30 I919.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

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UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN WEXLER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO THE PEELLE COMPANY,

OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CONTROLLER FOR ELEVATOR-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

7 Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

Application filed January 30, 1919. Serial No. 273,958.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN Wnxnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, in the city of New York, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controllers for Elevator- Cars, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to controllers for elevator cars, and more particularly to a mechanism actuated by the movement of any door in a shaft, to prevent application of power to a car, except when all of the doors in a shaft are closed.

A controlling mechanism made in accord ance with my invention, is adapted for use in connection with an elevator system wherein the power for the car is controlled by means of a shipper cable, which shipper cable is adapted to be locked against movement by a clutch mechanism adapted to be set, to prevent movement of the cable, by the opening of any door in a shaft, and to be released only when a door, which has been opened, is completely closed. In this manner application of power to the car is prevented by the locking of the shipper cable substantially simultaneously with the initial opening of the door, and is permitted only when the door is completely closed.

Elevator systems employing a shipper cable are at the present time employed almost entirely in connection with freight elevators in which it is necessary, to facilitate the movement of a loaded vehicle to and from the car, to stop the car substantially flush with the sill of the door opening. It is also sometimes desirable when loading a car, to lower the car slightly to facilitate the piling of freight thereon. Under these conditions the use of a controller mechanism of the character above referred to, is undesirable, since to permit even the slightest movement of the car it is necessary to close the door, thus necessitating absolute accuracy as to the point of stoppage of the car before the doors are opened. This is extremely difiicult with doors of the counterbalanced type, which doors conceal the sill of the door opening.

To obviate this condition, I provide a controller mechanism of the character above referred to, with means operative upon the clutch mechanism whereby this clutch mechanism may be temporarily made inoperative to permit the desired shifting of the car while a door is open, either for the purpose of adjusting the car with relation to the sill, or permitting access to the top of the car for purposes of effecting repairs within the elevator shaft. This mechanism does not in any way impair the efliciency of the automatic control of the cable by the doors in a shaft, since the purpose of the controller is mainly to prevent the premature starting of a car, and the manually operative release mechanism requires an effort, on the part of the operator, greater than that required to close the door, so that its use cannot in any way expedite the speed at which the car may be operated.

Since a controller'comm0n to all of the doors in a shaft is employed, it is essential that the manual release mechanism shall be so constructed as to be accessible from any point in the shaft.

The invention consists primarily ina controller for elevator cars embodying therein a shipper cable, a clutch mechanism, automatically acting means whereby said clutch mechanism will be set substantially simultaneously with the opening of any door in a shaft and will be released substantially simultaneously with the closure of any such door, and manually operative means where by said clutch mechanism may be released from the car while any door in the shaft is open; and insuch other novel features of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is an elevation of a door of the counterbalanced, truckable type having a controller made in accordance with my in vention, applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the clutch mechanism and its appurtenant parts, the clutch being shown as set to prevent movement of the shipper cable;

Fig. 3 is a view of the clutch mechanism pro-per, with the manual release mechanism in its operative position to release the clutch;

Fig. 4 is a view of elevator doors of the telescoping type, showing a modification of the controller mechanism made in accordance .with my invention, applied thereto;

Fig. 5 is a view of elevator doors of the slide type, showing the manner of connecting a controller made in accordance with my invention, thereto;

Fig. 6 is a view of elevator doors of the double swinging type, showing the manner of applying a controller made in accordance with my invention, thereto; and

Fig. 7 is a. horizontal section upon a larger scale of the doors shown in Fig. 6, indicating in dotted lines, the mode of operation of the doors in actuating the controller,

Like letters refer to like parts througlr out the several views.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the controller is applied to an elevator door of the counterbalanced type, consisting of two sections, a and Z), connected by the usual suspension cables 0. These doors have movement in the same vertical plane, in opposite directions, on tracks or guides (Z mounted within the elevator shaft. The lower door section b is provided with the usual laterally projecting hanger bar 0 to which the cables 0 are connected.

Arranged at a suitable point in the elevator shaft, preferably in the penthouse, are vertical tracks 01' guides f having slidably mounted therein a wei ht g operatively connected with each door in a shaft by means of the strip or cable 7a passing over suitable pulleys 7a" and having mounted thereon blocks or balls 2', positioned adjacent the hanger bar 6 of each door, the cable'i passing through an opening in said hanger bar. At the lower end of the strip or cable 72 is a weight ]L2 which is considerably lighter than the weight 9, but suiiiciently heavy to hold the strip or cable 7t taut.

At a suitable point in the shaft, preferably in the penthouse, is the usual switch mechanism for controlling the electrical power :for actuating the elevator, said mechanism being adapted to be actuated by means of the shipper cable 7". Adjacent said switch mechanism, and the guides or tracks 7, is a sleeve 79 through which one reach of the shipper cable 7 passes, said shipper cable adjacent said sleeve having mounted thereon two balls j j adapted to pass freely through said sleeve, but being spaced apart sufiiciently to permit a clutch member to be thrust therebetween and thus prevent sui'l ficient movement of the shipper cable to actuate the switch mechanism The sleeve has an opening 70 through the side thereof. Slidably mounted in a suitable housing m adjacent the bottom of the guides or tracks f, is a clutch member 4% acted upon by a spring m adapted to non mally thrust said clutch member toward said sleeve is, and in the path of movement of the balls or blocks j -j Pivotally mounted adjacent the lower end of the guides or tracks f is a lever, one arm n of which is adapted to be operatively engaged by the sliding weight g and the other arm n of which is adapted to operatively engage a lug m carried by and movable with the clutch member m. When a door is opened, the weight 9 will move from its operative relation to said lever, movement being imparted to said lever as a result of the sliding movement of the clutch member m under the influence of the spring of, so as to position the arm n so that the engagement of the weight g therewith upon the closing of the door, will impart sliding movement to said clutch member in the opposite direction and against the tension of the spring m The clutch member m is provided a pendent abutment m cooperating with which is a bell crank lever, one arm 0 of which is adapted to engage said abutment m", and the other arm 0' of which provided with a pull cable 0 extending throughout the entire height of the elevator shaft, so as to be accessible from the car at whatever position the car my be in, thus aitording manually operative means by which the clutch member m may be retracted with relation to the sleeve is, to an extent to permit the free passage of the balls j j upon the shipper cable 7" through said sleeve. Acting upon the arm 0 of said bellcrank lever is a spring 0 for restoring the manually opera tive release means to normal position after each actuation thereof. The bell crank lever above referred to. is so set that when the clutch member m is projected to the full extent within the sleeve lathe arm 0 thereof will be in close juxtaposition to said ahutlnent m Any suitable means for holding the pull cable 0 taut, may be employed, as the weight 0 adjacent the free end of said cable, the load of which weight will be sustained by the tension of the spring 0 In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 4, I have illustrated the invention as applied to a door structure of the telescoping, counterweighted type, in which the two door sections, a and I), have movement in parallel vertical planes and in the same direction, the opening and closing of the doors being facilitated by the counterweight p. In this form the invention, the blocks 'i upon the strip or cable It instead of operatively engaging a hanger bar upon the doors, engage an extension 2) upon the counterweight 29. In other respects the construe tion of the controlling mechanism is the same as shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

r Inthe form of the invention shown in Fig. 5, I have illustrated the application of the invention to an elevator door of the latwith erally sliding type, this requiring merely the modification of the details in connecting the weight g with the door.

In this form of the invention, I connect the strip or cable It with an endless strip q passing around suitable rollers 1", r, r and 1 arranged in pairs at the top and at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Extending from, and secured to, the reach of said endless strip 9, are branch strips 9 extending about rollers s and s at opposite sides of each door opening, to the reach 9 upon the other side of the door openings, to which they are secured. Said branch strip or cable passes through an opening in a bracket 6 carried by the door proper u, having a free sliding fit in said bracket, and is provided with a block '0 adapted to engage said bracket.

Referring now to the form of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7, I have shown the invention as applied to double swinging elevator doors, this form of the invention like that shown in Fig. 5, requiring merely the modification of the connection between the weight g and the several doors in the shaft.

In this form of the invention, I employ a strip 9 having the same general arrangement as illustrated in connection with Fig. 5, this strip being endless and passing about rollers 1*, r, 1'"- and T The reach Q3 is provided with blocks @12 adapted to be engaged by rings w carried by extension strips or cables w passing over the roller 10', adjacent the door opening. and the roller 10 carried by one of the swinging doors 0:, and being connected with the other swinging door :0 of the pair. By this construction it is impossible to open either swinging door sec tion at any door opening, without moving the weight g in a manner to permit the spring m to project the slide m within the sleeve 76 in a manner'to prevent movement of the shipper cable j to an extent to apply power to the car.

In Figs. 5 to 7, the clutch mechanism, and parts appurtenant thereto, are not illus trated, the forms of the invention shown in said views relating merely to the manner of applying power to the weight g, and not involving any mechanical variation in the mechanism omitted from said views.

The operation of the herein described de vice is substantially as follows In controllers of the type to which my invention relates, when all the doors in a shaft are closed, the weight g is in its lowermost position bearing upon the arm on in a manner to oscillate the lever n-n and retract the clutch member at from the sleeve 7: in a manner to leave an open passage through said sleeve for the blocks or balls y aj upon the shipper cable 3". hen the parts are in this relation, which is illustrated more particularly in Fig. 4:, the shipper cable may be freely actuated to apply power to the car for movement in either direetion.

When any door is opened, however, a pull is exerted upon the strip or cable It through the block 2' thereon cooperating with the door which is moved, or appurtenances to said door, thus raising the weight 9 upon the guides or tracks 7, so as to move it away from the lever %?i to an extent to permit the clutch member m to be thrust into the sleeve k through the opening k in the wall thereof. Since the door is opened only when a car stops at the door opening closed by that door, the blocks or balls j j will be positioned upon opposite sides of the clutch member m, thus preventing such movement of the shipper cable as will result in the application of power to the car.

Since the weight g is operative only toward the end of its downward movement, to actuate the lever /l//b to retract the clutch member m, it will be apparent that said member will be retracted with relation to the sleeve 7? substantially simultaneously with the completion of the closing of a door, and it will also be apparent that when opening a door, since the initial movement of the weight 9 will release the said lever qtn the clutch member m will be set sub stantially simultaneously with the initial opening of the door.

Considered broadly, I make no claim of invention to the use of a sliding clutch member operated by means of a lever mechanism adapted to be actuated through the agency of a sliding weight adapted to be operatively engaged with, and disengaged from, said lever mechanism with the closing and opening of any door in a shaft, my

invention relating more particularly to the combination with this form of controller mechanism, of a manually operative release mechanism through which this automatic controller mechanism may be actuated to permit power to be applied to the car through. the shipper cable, even though some door in a shaft be open. The detailed construction of the clutch mechanism, how ever is novel with me in respects other than those incidental to the 'application of 'a manual release mechanism thereto.

Assuming that some door in the shaft is open, as shown in Fig. 1, and it is desired to move a car either for the purpose of alining the floor of the car with the door sill, or for gaining access to the top of the car, the operator may release the clutch k-m by oscillating the lever 00 by means of the pull cable 0 the movement of'said lever being against the tension of the spring 0 As said lever is oscillated, the arm 0 thereof will, through its engagement with the abutment m retract the clutch member m and thus afford clearance for the passage of the block or ball j or j through the sleeve 72 to permit power to be applied to the car for movement in either direction.

In using this manually operativerelease mechanism, it is necessary for the operator to use one hand upon the pull cable 0 and the other h and upon the shipper cable j and to retain his grip upon the cable 0 in order to permit a return movement of the shipper cable for the purpose of stoppage of the car; or if he releases the cable 0 to again actuate said release mechanism before he can stop the car. Since in starting a car by means of the manual clutch release mecha nism, both hands are necessarily employed, it is apparent that this mechanism cannot be used to secure a quick start of the car from a landing, it being much more convenient for the operator to close the door than to actuate this mechanism.

The manually operative release mecha nism is essentially an emergency device, which does not in any way interfere with the funetionings of the automatic clutch setting and releasin mechanism.

It is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details of construction shown in the accompanying drawings, it being apparent that such may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

A controller made in accordance with my invention, may be applied to practically all types of elevator doors, so long as connections between the weight g and the doors are so arranged that the opening of the door will move said weight into engagement with a lever mechanism controlling the movable member of the clutch operating upon the shipper cable, and the closing of the doorwill move said weight away from said lever mechanism.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is

1. A controller for elevator cars embodying therein a sliding weight, operative con nections between said weight and each door in an elevator shaft, means controlling the application of power to the car embodying therein a movable member arranged in the path of movement of said weight toward the limit of the downward movement thereof, whereby the engagement of said tveight with said member will permit, and the disengagement of said weight from said member will prevent, the application of power to the car, a lever whereby said member may be actuated independently of said weight to permit application of power to a car, and a pull cord connected to said lever and extend ing adjacent all doors of a shaft, whereby, under normal conditions, power to the car will be interrupted substantially simulta neously with the initial opening movement of a door, and will be restored substantially simultaneously with the completion of the closing movement of the door, but may be manually restored from within the shaft independently of the door.

2. A controlling mechanism for elevator cars embodying therein a cable controlling the application of power to a car, having two adjacent blocks thereon, a sleeve through which said cable and said blocks are adapted to pass, a slide adapted to enter said sleeve, a spring having a normal tendency to thrust said slide within said sleeve, a movable impact member, operative connections between said impact member and each door in an elevator shaft, an oscillatory lever arranged in the path of movement of said impact member and adapted to be engaged thereby when all doors in a shaft are closed, operative connections between said lever and said slide, whereby said slide 'will be actuated by said spring to prevent movement of said cable when any door in a shaft is open, and will be retracted to permit movement of said cable only when all .doors in a shaft are closed, and said spring will normally maintain said lever in the operative relation to said impact member, a lever operative upon said slide in opposition to said spring, and a pull cord connected to said'lever and extending adjacent all doors of a shaft, whereby said slide may be retracted independently of any door in the shaft.

3. A controller for elevator cars embodying therein a shipper cable having spaced blocks or balls thereon, a. sleeve through which the blocks or balls upon said cable may pass, a slidable clutch member adapted to enter said sleeve, between said blocks or balls, a spring acting upon said clutch member to normally thrust it into said sleeve, an abutment upon said slidable member, a lever operative upon said slidable member, a sliding weight, operative connections between said weight and each door in a shaft, whereby, with the opening of a door, said weight will be moved away from said lever, and with the closing of a door, said weight will be brought into engagement with said lever, a bell crank lever, one arm of which is adapted to operatively engage the abutment upon said slidabl'e clutch member, and a pull cable connected with the other arm of said lever and extending throughout the entire height of a shaft, whereby said clutch mechanism may be released from within a car while any door in a shaft is open.

4. A controller for elevator cars embodying therein a shipper cable having spaced blocks or balls thereon, a sleeve through which the blocks or balls upon said cable may pass, a slidable clutch member adapted to enter said sleeve between said blocks or balls, 2. spring acting upon said clutch menu her to normally thrust it into said sleeve, an abutment upon said slidable member, a lever operative upon said slidable member, a sliding weight, operative connections between said weight and each door in a shaft, whereby, with. the opening of a door, said weight will be moved away from said lever, and with the closing of a door, said weight will be brought into engagement with said lever, a bell crank lever, one arm of which is adapted to operatively engage the abutment upon said slidable clutch member, a pull cable connected with the other arm of said lever and extending throughout the entire height of a shaft, whereby said clutch mechanism may be released from within a car while any door in a shaft is open, and a spring acting upon said bell crank lever to normally hold it out of the operative relation to said abutment.

5. A controller for elevator cars embodying therein a shipper cable having spaced blocks or balls thereon, a sleeve through which the blocks or balls upon said cable may pass, a slidable clutch member adapted to enter said sleeve between said blocks or balls, a projection upon said clutch member, a spring acting upon said clutch member to normally thrust it into said sleeve, an abutment upon said slidable member, a lever adapted to operatively engage said projection upon said slidable member, a sliding weight, operative connections between said weight and each door in a shaft, whereby, with the opening of a door, said weight will be moved away from said lever, and with the closing of a door, said weight will be brought into engagement with said lever, a bell crank lever, one arm of which is adapted to operatively engage the abutment upon said slidable clutch member, a pull cable connected with the other arm of said lever and extending throughout the entire height of a shaft, whereby said clutch mechanism may be released from within a car while anyv door in a shaft is open, and a spring acting upon said bell crank lever to normally hold it out of the operative relation to said abutment.

6. A controller for elevator cars embodying therein a shipper cable having spaced blocks or balls thereon, a sleeve through which the blocks or balls upon said cable may pass, rails or guides adjacent said sleeve, a housing adjacent the bottom of said rails or guides, a clutch member slidably mounted in said housing and adapted to enter said sleeve between said blocks or balls, a projection upon said slidable member, a spring acting to normally thrust said slidable member toward said sleeve, a lever adapted to operatively engage said projection, a sliding weight mounted upon said guides or rails and adapted to operatively engage said lever, and operative connections 

